Page 41 of Lifeline

“The…fuck,” he gasped, groaning when I carefully pulled out and looked to see that yes, he had indeed come, the evidence of it splattered against the side of my desk. “What?”

“I think you have that sentence backward,” I told him with a laugh, needing to sit down but leaning on the desk to make sure he was okay.

“Who gives a fuck,” he breathed with a little laugh. “You just…I just came…hands free.”

“I remember you said no one had ever done that to you, but you’d made one other person do it,” I said, and when he chuckled, I blinked. “No⁠—”

“Some things don’t change,” he said as he got up and leaned on the desk, his legs apparently not strong enough yet. “Except…that thing just changed.”

“Seriously?” I asked, eyes going wide.

“First time in my life,” he said, looking thoughtful. “That was…a weird feeling. I mean, good, definitely good! Amazing!”

I smirked at his hasty explanation and kissed him. “Shut up already, I get it.”

“You should be smug,” he told me with a chuckle, running a hand down my side.

“Oh, I’ll be smug for days,” I admitted with a laugh. “But right now I want to be smug after a shower and getting comfortable.”

“Sounds good to me,” he said, catching my hand and looking at me. There was something in his eyes, words that wanted to come out of his mouth, and I felt my throat almost close.

“Told you I could take it,” he said instead of whatever was in his head.

“And I told you the desk was fine,” I said, not sure if I was relieved or disappointed. “Damaged, but fine.”

“Yeah, yeah,” he said with a snort. “Oh, you missed it, but Colin went around to find out who wanted to go to a bar in town next weekend. Reno and I signed you up; the ones who didn’t are going to stay behind on call.”

“You what?”

“Blame Reno too.”

“Don’t throw my brother under the bus!”

“You’d do it in a heartbeat.”

“I shared a womb with that bed hog, I can throw him under whatever I want!”

“You’re still going out to have drinks and party with us, so buckle up.”

A bunch of us are going out together to loosen up with a handful of drinks?

What could go wrong?

7

AIDAN

“This feels illegal,” I shouted over the rumble of the truck and the wind in my ears as we bounced along a road that probably hadn’t seen repairs in years.

“Nah,” Carter said with a grin, and I didn’t believe him for a minute. It was weird to see him without Mav lurking in his shadow with that serious look on his face, but Carter didn’t seem bothered by his best friend’s absence.

“No babysitter tonight?” I called as the next bounce almost sent me bouncing out of the back of the truck. I was seriously considering whether agreeing to ride in the back was such a good idea after all.

Carter rolled his eyes. “He’s not my babysitter.”

“Butt buddy?”

“Fuck you.”